A Perfect World Comes to Light
by WesDaaman
Summary: A time of redeeming harmony is coming forward...but at the same time, a great darkness will try to stop it. The fate of all now lies in the hands...of the Mystery Shack team. Meanwhile, Dipper and Wendy get more closer in bond.
1. Light in the Dark

In times of desperation, all can seem lost. But when the clouds of despair darken your life, you must look for at least one ray of hope shining through. Sometimes, though, our own fear can cloud our thinking. It is always good to find the light in places not many would think to look, for good things can come from the most unexpected of ways.

Something righteously good is about to come to existence, to help a valuable element that some overlook...nature.

This foretold event has begun as a sort of poem/riddle:

_Mankind came forth, as was predicted._

_The other living things, more pure of heart than humanity can be, suddenly suffered terribly._

_Now, the unseen force the forged the entire universe, shall redeem our world, bringing harmony forevermore._

_But how will it play out?_


	2. Thieves? Maybe not

Mabel sat happily in a chair near the Mystery Shack's museum area, munching joyously on a sandwich. Just as she got ready to ask a nearby floor-sweeping Soos about how his day had been, she saw something unusual (more unusual than normal) near the corner of the room. The stand that always had a Dodo model on it now had something else entirely. It was a small pigeon model and its label read _Arenicolumba pratte_.

"Hey, Soos," she said to Soos, now getting his attention, "Do you notice something off here? You think we have thieves?"

"Something's definitely off, Mabel" replied Soos, looking carefully at the extinct pigeon model, "I'm not sure about robbers, 'cause I don't see any fingerprints, but something weirder has got to be happening if models of birds are being replaced."

At that moment, Dipper was strolling by until he saw something similar to what his sister and big friend had seen. Up on an area of the wall, where a Woolly Mammoth tusk had always been, was now oddly replaced by a slightly differently-shaped tusk and labeled _Steppe Mammoth_.

"That's weird...," said Dipper, scratching his head. He pointed this out to Mabel and Soos, who in turn showed him the pigeon model.

"No signs of burglary," commented Dipper, "And Grunkle Stan would have announced to all of us if something had been stolen from the Mystery Shack. So what's going on here?"

"Maybe it's voodoo!" said Mabel, lowering her voice for dramatic effect.

"Or probably some really tidy burglar who cleans away their fingerprints," suggested Soos.

"Look at this!" yelped the voice Wendy, who was then seen pacing quickly over to the others. "You're all not going to believe this. While arranging the items in the gift store, I found that the Saber-Toothed Cat plush toys could have been stolen and swapped with these."

She then showed them two plush toys she brought form the store to them. Before they were representations of _Smilodon _but now they looked completely different in both coloration and fang size, and their tags read _Xenosmilus_.

"That's definitely odd," said Dipper, looking carefully at the plush toys, "Besides, Stan would be upset and be complaining by now that his merchandise is being stolen or traded."

Just at that moment, in cape Grunkle Stan, whistling to himself and then taking notice of the four young ones. "What's going on here, kids?" he asked curiously.

After the twins, Wendy and Soos showed Stan the mysterious replacements for some of the items in Shack, the old-timer decided to come up with a hypothesis to this. Suddenly, as he wondered about all this, a sort of force entered his thoughts, causing him to freeze still for a brief moment.

"What are you talking about, kids?" the old man then said after the brief freeze. "They have always been this way."

This was very odd that Grunkle Stan would be acting this way about potential thieves. It looked as if something forced him in his subconscious to say what he said. It would seem as though that the twins, Soos and Wendy were going to find out what was happening.


	3. The Prophecy of Redemption

All was seeming unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time. What was this? What was going on? How come certain props at the Shack were supposedly replaced and Grunkle Stan acted like nothing was going on? Perhaps the wise and ancient, Elk-headed Elkron had the answers that the twins and their two older friends sought.

Out in the front yard, Mabel got out from her pocket an empty large snail shell that she had been given by the Elkron when she first met them. This was a specially used tool amongst the Elkron that had the purpose of signaling others of their kind.

"Are you sure blowing through that shell is going to work?" asked Dipper, wondering if any sound produced from a shell like this would travel a long distance.

"I've used my hands and megaphones," added Soos with interest, "I wonder how it'll work with a dead snail's shell..."

"It kind of seems primitive," said Wendy, thoughtfully, "But, seeing that this kind of stuff is magical and all, it may work."

"I sure have high hopes!" answered Mabel with a big smile, "Making loud noises is my specialty!"

The young girl inhaled deeply through her mouth and blew into the hollowed tip of the enchanted shell, sending out a loud and long sound that seemed like a cross between a flute and a whistle. The crying call carried for a number of miles, startling many Birds and sending them flying out of the trees.

After about 5 seconds of waiting, nothing seemed to appear before the four. Just then, out of the forest undergrowth emerged a really familiar face: Hylaeocervopus, the current Elkron warden of the MagnaSpider imprisonment.

"Who hath summoned me to the fringes of a Human territory!" he announced in his naturally deep tone. "Oh, it you. The four young Humans who helped me and my associates recapture the unleashed MagnaSpiders. You are surely...different from the rest of your kind. I just finished teaching the not-so-intelligent Manotaurs and Womanotaurs about true reasons to fight and true reasons to live. What brings you to summon ones like me?"

"Hi Mr. Hylaeo-cerviolo-pusus!" greeted Mabel with a wave of hand, once again mispronouncing the Elkron's name. "Me, my brother and my friends want to ask you something. It's that...uh..." Mabel did not exactly know how to describe the complicated problem. Hylaeocervopus just raised an eyebrow.

"Our problem is...uh...that our props were stolen, we think," added Soos, also not sure about how to explain the situation neither.

"I think they mean...," interceded Wendy and Dipper, coincidently at the same time, "Things with Animals around here are changing." Realizing this sudden unison of a statement made the two chuckle.

Hylaeoceropus tapped his chin with his finger and wondered what these four young Humans were speaking about. That is when it occurred to him. His eyes opened wide in surprise to this. "Has it truly begun? Is the prophecy coming true? Then the stars and the rivers were right...Light protect us all..."

"What's going on here? What prophecy?" asked Dipper in confusion.

"A new dawn for this world is coming," responded Hylaeocervopus slowly, "But at the same time, evil will try to prevail..."

"Looks like something we don't know about alright," said Mabel both jokingly and curiously.

"Is it Armageddon?" asked Soos, being hypothetical.

"No," answered the Elkron, taking a step back and looking briefly up at the sunny sky, "It is the Age of Redemption."

"Age of Redemption?" responded Wendy in interest, "What's this prophecy all about?"

"I will show you...," replied Hylaeocervopus, right then gesturing for them to come forward, "Follow me."

* * *

After leading the four young Humans far from Gravity Falls or any other nearby civilization, the Elkron showed them to a hidden territory deep in the forest. It was a well-hidden village of Elkron. It was cloaked in the shade of the tall trees, small beams of sunlight coming down. The huts were made from discarded tree branches and hides salvaged from already dead mortal Animals that the Elkron had found. It may not have been as magnificent in beauty and feel to the Sacred Sanctuary of Life's Essence (refer to _Invasion of the Swarming Horde_) but it was still fantastic to see.

"This is my home residence," spoke Hylaeocervopus, calm in his tone to see his home undisturbed, "My tribe lives here. We salvage our huts from material that we need. We do not steal from trees, but take what they discard. We do not kill non-sentient beings for their hides alone, we take them from already dead specimens."

"That's what I call being resourceful," said Soos, liking the philosophical sense that Elkron had in house-making.

"If only Grunkle Stan weren't busy to see this," said Dipper, knowing that his granduncle was missing out.

"My dad could sure use lessons from you Elkron," said Wendy, ending with a little cute chuckle (her sweet-sounding chuckle made Dipper feel relaxed).

"So are your two friends here?" Mabel asked Hylaeocervopus.

"Yes, the twin siblings Dryosaicha and Sylvouranis are around here somewhere. Most likely performing their daily duties, as we all should do every day in our lives," answered Hylaeocervopus with the first hint of a smile.

Once Hylaeocervopus the warden led the four into the village encampment, they all saw several Elkron alike, males and females, were hard at work. Some were sitting in front of their homes and weaving cloth or crafting weapons, while others carried baskets of food. Many stared at the four young Human in surprise and suspicion. Hylaeocervopus announced to the rest of his tribe that, in their native tongue, that these four young Humans were actually to be trusted. It was a language that Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos could all not exactly understand, but they knew it was encouragement.

Hylaeocervopus finally brought them to the other side of the whole village, where a very tall hut, much more impressive and detailed than the others, stood. It was decorated with different kinds of tree and bush branches (both evergreen and not) as well as collected antlers and teeth salvaged from already dead Creatures.

"This is our leader's hut," spoke Hylaeocervopus, "Inside lies the answers you seek. I believe Sylvouranis and Dryosaicha are here at the moment as well."

"Alright, we're going to meet a lead Deer-head," said Wendy with an interested smile.

"I suppose that this chieftain," said Dipper, "He'll show us what-"

"It is a chieftess," interrupted the warden. This followed with the four Humans exclaiming "It's a she!?"

* * *

Once they went through the woven hide entrance, the twins and their two older friends were awestruck by what they saw around them. The walls had different ceremonial masks and weapons mounted upon them. The floor was carpeted with more salvaged furry hides and salvaged leaves. At the other end of the large hut were two tall torches (not lit at the moment since sunlight shown through crevasses in the roof) flanking the meditating chieftess of these Elkron. Dryosaicha and Sylvaouranis were also flanking her, but only to clean the tall, lamp-like torches with their saliva.

Delighted to see Sylvouranis and Dryosaicha again, Mabel almost yelped at them in happiness, only to have her mouth covered by Dipper, not wanting to disturb the leader's meditation. The two sibling Elkron did notice their warden friend and the four Humans and smiled, right then walking over to greet them. Hylaeocervopus stood back to give his two associates space to meet the four young Humans again.

"It's good to see you again, Sylvouranis dude!" said Soos, shaking hands with the toolmaker.

"Are you still into making different weapons and other tools?" added Wendy, shaking Sylvouranis's other hand and remembering that she liked the Threat-Fighters used to fend away attacking MagnaSpiders.

"Indeed I am," nodded Sylvouranis in agreement.

"Hi Dryosaicha!" greeted Mabel with a big smile, hugging the peacekeeper's arm. "How's keeping nature in order going?"

"Yes, hello, Mabel," responded Dryosaicha just as Mabel let go of her arm, "Maintaining balance is still a charm. And hello to you too, Dipper"

"Uh, yeah, hey, Dryosaicha," said Dipper, remembering the interesting ability Dryosaicha had for seeing the positive things of one's future.

"Has there been any progress?" asked Dryosaicha, lowering down her voice so not many others could hear her, "Any building towards the future of you and your intended soon-to-be mate, Wendy?"

"M-mate?" responded Dipper, now smiling awkwardly, blushing and sweating, "Well, uh, s-she's a good friend right now and...and..."

"She's showing lots and lots of concern and affection for him whenever he does something nice for her or if he gets injured!" butted in Mabel, planning to make her brother feel uncomfortable for the fun of it.

"Would you look at that," spoke Dryosaicha with a big smile, "You and her are two seeds of love blossoming in the forest. Your families will be eventually thrilled. It is obvious since destiny and nature has actually betrothed you two."

"Wh-wh-what?" stuttered Dipper in surprise, "We've been be-betrothed?"

"Look at that!" said Mabel happily, hugging Dipper, "You and Wendy are already destined to be together!"

"A time will come when you and Wendy shall confess your love for one another," continued Dryosaicha, with Dipper turning his gaze towards a distracted Wendy, "The heavens are telling me this. Your future definitely looks brighter than the sun."

After meeting each other formally again, Hylaeocervopus gestured for his two comrades to show the Humans how to show signs of respect for the chieftess before speaking with her. They showed that they had to formal bows and curtsies, just like what Humans would typically do. Dipper and Mabel had no problems with doing a bow and a curtsy, but Soos found it hard to bow with his girth and Wendy found secretly found it too "girly" for her to do a curtsy.

After the formalities were made, the chieftess Elkron of this village opened her eyes, looked at the four young Humans and stood up. She, of course, had no antlers, yet she had a shiny scar carved across her snout. She wore a scarf-like garment around her neck and shoulders as a sign of her high authority. As she stood up on her hooves, her legs wobbled a little from age.

"I have been expecting you..." spoke the chieftess mysteriously.

"How-" began the four Humans in confusion.

"My meditation from last evening told me something like this would happen," immediately answered the chieftess, "The Bonfire of Truth showed me your faces in addition. I had doubts you would help anything, but not all Humans are bad. Now let me show you four the prophecy of the Age of Redemption..."

The chieftess had already known about this prophecy before Hylaeocervopus had heard about signs of it from the Pines twins and their two friends. She moved to the side to show them a large boulder rock, tall as two and a half Grunkle Stans (as what Mabel measured it to be). Carved upon this almost triangular-shaped large stone were images of different Animals and other living things going through what looked like life-and-death processes, Humans included. A stranger thing was that a lot of the organisms carved upon the large rock were not really from the Pacific Northwest. Some of these were images of Animals from other parts of the continent and even from the other continents of Earth. The chieftess gently expressed what these carvings meant:

_Mankind came forth, as was predicted_

_The other living things, more pure of heart than humanity can be, suddenly suffered terribly._

_Now, the unseen force the forged the entire universe, shall redeem our world, bringing harmony forevermore._

_But how will it play out?_

Despite the oddly-written way the prophecy was presented, its words magically began to settle into the minds of Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos.

"Does this have to do with the most recent extinctions?" spoke Dipper, "The species that fell from unfair causes relating to our kind?"

"Are they coming back?" asked Mabel, her eyes widening in happiness.

The chieftess nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

"Does this include things like Woolly Mammoths and Dodos?" asked Soos, thinking technically about famous recent supposed extinctions.

"Even Moas and Saber-Tooth Cats?" added Wendy with interest.

"All lost souls to Human causes are returning to existence for a second chance. The ruined niches in each ecosystem of the world are being filled once again by their rightful occupants," spoke the chieftess with pride in her tone, "To live in harmony with your species. At the same time, all invasive Human-introduced species to different lands, those that never evolved, will be removed. History is slowly, but surely, rewriting itself! May the Light redeem this natural world we live in."

"This...is...AWESOME!" squealed Mabel with glee, "Now I can finally see a Dodo or two in a zoo, or if I'm visiting their home island!"

Just as the four were liking this idea of a 'redeemed world,' the chieftess then began to speak of something dire. "However, the ancient enemy of all existence, the Dark Master, shall be awakened and will try to ravage this world. But the Light will stop its evil shadow. Good always triumphs..."

"The Dark Master!?" responded the four Humans together in shock. They heard many particularly evil beings talk about this Dark Master, speaking of how it would be 'reawakened.' What was this all coming from? How did this evil being go dormant in the first place? And how were they going to stop it?

"Oh man," muttered Dipper, "This is getting pretty detailed and intense! I sure wish Grunkle Stan was hear to see this."

And just at that moment, the chieftess Elkron heard Dipper's 'wish', chanted something to herself, clapped twice, and out of a sudden warp of supernatural power, Stan appeared, warped straight from the Mystery Shack, in a position that showed that he was just dozing on the recliner. Once he heard the voices of his grandniece, grandnephew and two employees speak to him, he work up startled. "Wha-what? Where am I? More Elkron? Am I having a side effect from my daytime pills?"


	4. Preparation and Blushes

Stan was told by his grandniece, grandnephew, two employees and the four present Elkron that he had been warped into this remote village and about the Age of Redemption prophecy. The old man was then told by the chieftess that those aged and greatly experienced like him were having their memories altered by the prophecy's 'radiation.'

"How the, what?" exclaimed Stan in confusion, "I distinctly remember petting a baby Mastodon in a zoo once!"

"You do remember this," said the chieftess, "because history is being altered, for the greater cause of nature itself."

"This is actually pretty confusing," muttered Soos, feeling dumbfounded by the alteration of history happening in Stan's memories.

"Say," said Dipper remembering something similar to what he found a while back, "Are you familiar with the Jurassic Sap Hole?"

"You mean that bizarre location with large amounts of tree sap containing dead non-Avian Dinosaurs, certain aquatic Reptiles and Pterosaurs?" questioned Hylaeocervopus. "I know of what you speak of, but those relics of the Mesozoic era are as good as deceased within all that tree resign. It is actually quite strange because that normally happened to small Arthropods of those prehistoric times."

"What?" asked Mabel, rather confused by the warden archer's complex vocabulary.

"What he means is...," spoke Sylvouranis, "...the Age of Redemption will only bring back Animals that were unfairly destroyed from Human-related causes. And back in the Mesozoic, there were no Humans to speak of. Your kind did not appear until much later on. As for the reports on live _Pteranodon_, this must be proof that a surviving descended species still exists."

"So no official Mesozoic tourist attraction ideas like a zoo, huh?" sighed Stan in disappointment. "A couple measly Pterodactyloids won't really help."

"_So that's where Dipper got me that Dinosaur tooth_," thought Wendy to herself. She then looked at Dipper and smiled.

Dryosaicha saw this and felt pleased to see Wendy developing in her affections for Dipper.

"Enough about all that," said Soos, feeling that this prophecy was very important to know about, "How is this Dark Master dude going to try to, you know, take over the universe and stuff?"

"A very good question," the chieftess responded, "The answer may shock you all. It may involve a twisted cult of particularly evil beings, mortal and immortal, working together to reawaken the sleeping Dark Master from its imprisonment."

Now a tale was told to the Mystery Shack Crew by the four Elkron about who or what the Dark Master was. The Dark Master is an unspeakably evil immortal entity. Many would describe this being as evil in its purest form. Long before existence ever existed, the Dark Master tried to eliminate the greatest and purest form of nobility and righteousness, the Light. In a divine battle, the Light won and defeated the Dark Master, imprisoning it within another realm. Now this evil tyrant lies somewhat dormant, sending out waves of negative feelings into us all. Particularly favorite targets have always been _Homo sapiens_, or Modern Humans, for through them the Dark Master could send other entire mortal species to abrupt extinctions with no fair causes. This was all to bring chaos out of order, as opposed to the Light's plan to bring order out of chaos.

"So now this Dark Master is going to be unleashed to prevent all its evil moves from being undone, eh?" said Dipper, perplexed by all this.

"No problem!" said Mabel, enthusiastically, doing a few karate chops for show "I'm always ready to fight bad guys!"

"Hey, count me in!" added Wendy, rubbing both the twins on their heads in friendliness, remembering the secret that redheads like her were special in the supernatural point-of-view on humanity, "I can be strong, but with a good heart." (This is what Dipper liked to hear from her)

"Dudes, you can always count on me!" added in Soos, then getting a high-five from Dipper and a hug from both the girls.

"But are we going to do, exactly?" asked Stan, not quite clear on this assignment, "We're preparing for this new age's official arrival, and yet there's a chaotic evil about to be released!"

"That is a question which has an answer that is far too complicated to explain in true words," replied the Elkron chieftess keenly, "You must look to the land and sky itself for answers." She then reached down from underneath her leafy meditation bed, pulled out a long scroll of ancient paper with the sketches of different constellations, river currents and natural landmarks, and handed it over to Dipper. "This will show you where to look."

* * *

Once the five Humans got ready to leave the chieftess's hut and this Elkron village, Grunkle Stan stopped for a moment to ask this all-knowing chieftess about something personal.

"Say, Miss lead Elkron lady," asked Stan cautiously, flashing back to all the bad things he had done before in his lifetime, "Do you know how to change the past if something you regret had been done?"

"A darkened past you have?" replied the chieftess with an interested expression, "We have all done things we are not proud of. Yet hiding from your past does not help anything. Indeed, it can hurt you deep down. But, you can do something better than fleeing from it. Learn from it and move on."

"I guess you're right," muttered Stan, now feeling a little more confident and the hint of a smile, "I have really got to put the past behind me and learn to do better."

* * *

Once everyone was back at the Mystery Shack, they felt so revitalized by the hearing of a redeeming prophecy coming true. Mabel and Soos practiced some martial arts in the front lawn for both fun and for preparation (with Waddles and Gompers just watching them awkwardly). Grunkle Stan was now fiercely researching in his old books about old legends of the world with common factors. Dipper was in the living room as he searched through many logs in books and in a few television news reports on Animals that were thought to be extinct from Human causes actually being sighted around the world. Wendy, remembering her survival skills taught to her by her secondary family of Sasquatches, did a few exercising stretches near the register, opened a nearby window and spoke to some of the small Birds she knew (and knowing how to speak to them) about anything unusual that they may have seen.

"You know, I think I have noticed some unique things lately," said a male Western Bluebird to Wendy, "Like the appearance of huge Turkey Vulture cousins. I think they are the fabled Teratorns!"

"I've seen a big bearlike Mammal with a longer tail than an actual Bear and eating from the low branches of the trees," added a female Black-Chinned Hummingbird, "I think it's the ancient Harlan's Ground Sloth!"

"Aside from all these amazing sightings," spoke a female Black-Headed Grosbeak, "how are things between you and your mate, Wendy?"

"Mate?" questioned Wendy, caught completely off-guard by this question.

"You know, that young male Human that's only a few years younger than you," continued the grosbeak curiously, "How is it with him?"

"That's Dipper, my good friend," responded Wendy, now blushing, "He's not my b-b-boyfriend, or m-mate!"

"Sure he isn't," said the grosbeak with sarcasm and then mischief, "at least not yet!"

"Hey, Wendy!" spoke a familiar voice from behind, sending the three Birds flying away.

Wendy turned around to see Dipper holding one of the Mystery Shack's gift shop books (one about local Native American tales and mythology). She couldn't help but admire how smart he looked when he had a book with him and when he was focused on his studies. She saw this as cute. "Hi, Dip. What did you learn?"

"I've been looking through different old textbooks on mythologies and legends from around globe and they all have at least one foretelling tale per region on a prophecy similar to this Age of Redemption," said Dipper, briefly scratching the back of his neck from feeling shy around Wendy, "Isn't that neat?"

"Yeah, it is, dude," replied Wendy, smiling and admiring his intellect and the way he scratched his neck from being shy, "_He's so cute when he does that. I just don't know how to describe it._"

"Oh, and I found out about what the Light that the Elkron talk about is," continued Dipper, "It's an unseen force that is all about goodness, nobility, justice, valor, peace and wisdom. It binds everything together orderly."

"That must explain our connection to nature," said Wendy, cocking her head cutely.

It would appear that the building relationship between Dipper Pines and Wendy Corduroy was developing quite nimbly. However, little did anyone realize that the strange and twisted cult dedicated to worshipping the Dark Master would put this developing bond to the test.


	5. A Night to Totally Remember

Later that evening, everything seemed rather peaceful. The sounds of Crickets, other Insects, Frogs, Bats, nocturnal Birds and more nighttime wildlife were heard all around the woodlands. The moon and stars shown down pleasantly and bioluminescent organisms (namely Fireflies) put on their usual lightshows.

The Mystery Shack was having one of its rare get-together parties for the local kids. Mabel was speaking to so many other kids about the Age of Redemption, but of course they took her as crazy. Soos was handing out small paper notes he had just made to all the guests, trying to spread word about the prophecy just like Mabel was doing. Stan went over to the playing disks and decided to play some music for the young guests that was a little less modern/pop and more traditional (this idea given to him by signs of the prophecy). It was the traditional music and rhythms of the Pacific Northwest Native American tribes that was played and, to Stan's surprise, the kids all felt enthralled by it.

Dipper, meanwhile, was nervously preparing himself to ask Wendy to dance with him. Even though there were several other girls (closer to his age) that were eyeing him, he ignored them and got ready to ask the one he actually had strong feelings for. "_Okay, get ahold of yourself, Dipper, just talk to her! Ask her to dance with you. How can I resist a fun and gorgeous girl like her?_"

He slowly shuffled towards her as she stood there, admiring the music that was playing. Then she turned her head to see her good friend standing close to her, briefly lifting up his hat to scratch his thick hair and his cheeks already blushing. "_He looks like he wants to ask me to dance with him. He's so cute when does stuff like this!_"

Just at that moment, Soos announced on the microphone a very special thing. "Alright dudes and dudettes! This evening, there's going to be a really special thing here at the Mystery Shack! This traditional playing right now is supposed to connect with your inner-something or others, and feel the power of our connection with nature herself!"

The crowd was surprisingly very enthralled by this. And just at that moment, Soos changed the music to a romantic Pacific Northwest native tune.

"Now, for dance partners!" He selected them with a remote-controlled spotlight, shining it on any boy and girl standing close to each other and thus selecting them as dance partners.

Then, to both Dipper and Wendy's surprise, the spotlight also selected them both together and they looked at one another.

"Soooo...are you going to ask me to dance?" Wendy asked Dipper, twirling some of her fiery red hair with her finger in a flirtatious way and blushing cutely.

"O-o-okay," stuttered the boy, "M-may I have this d-dance, Ms. Corduroy?"

"_Wow, what an adorable gentlemen!_" the girl thought to herself. She then decided to act a little dramatic for the fun of it. "Why thank you, Mr. Pines."

As everyone else on the dance floor danced gently to the rhythm romantic Native American melody, Wendy and Dipper calmly held hands and began to dance too. The sight of two adolescents, three years apart, dancing together got the attention of a couple of other people in the room. Some found it peculiar while others found it sweet. Mabel in particular was making a big smile, feeling so proud of her one and only brother actually dancing with girl of his dreams for the first time ever. Those muscular arms that Wendy had were at that moment being ever so gentle with Dipper.

It would seem that fate had brought them together for such an occasion as this.

* * *

After the party was over, and all the guests were departing, Dipper offered to Wendy if he could, in a sense, walk her home. To his delight, she agreed. Mabel watched the two as they walked away from the Shack, a big smile on her face. "_I'm so proud of you bro!_"

As they walked down the unpaved road, Wendy and Dipper couldn't help but gaze at the beautiful night all around them. Since there was very little light pollution in the Gravity Falls area, the night could be seen a whole lot clearer. The Mosquitoes were a little annoying, but the moths and Fireflies seen around them were a lot more tolerable to be near. The chirps of Crickets, the croaks of Frogs, the echolocating sounds (too low to be heard that well) of Bats, the hoots of Owls, the calls of Nightjars and more wildlife were heard all around, making the two young Humans feel quite relaxed instead of phobic.

Dipper looked to see the moon in a crescent shape and shining its light, along with the countless stars shining theirs as well, upon Wendy. Her eyes and eyelashes looked almost hypnotically beautiful in the light of the night.

"You know, Dipper," spoke Wendy after a long pause, "It's nights like this that flash me back to my time living in the woods far from civilization, nurtured by Sasquatches."

"Oh really?" responded Dipper curiously.

"Yeah," continued Wendy, looking up at the sky, "One night, I was feeling so connected with my wild side that I did a sort of chant as the sun went down and the moon rose up. Lots of local Animals, mostly nocturnal ones, started to join me in chorus."

Just from thinking about this past event of hers, the teenage girl began to sort of chant a little under her own breath. Dipper could still hear it and the rhythm of this quiet chanting actually appealed to him, especially since it was coming from such a lovely female.

After a little while, they finally reached Wendy's home residence. They said goodbye to each other, and just before Dipper could turn around and go home, Wendy placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him right in his tracks.

"Hey, I just wanted to say something, buddy," she said to him, a serene look in her eyes, "I wanted to thank you for an awesome night together, us and the rest of the gang at the Shack. And since this new age of natural harmony is happening as we speak, I-I well..."

Wendy was now blushing from what she was about to say. Dipper began to blush too, ready to hear what the girl of his dreams had to say.

"When I eventually become a mom, I'll be glad to show my kids the redeemed world we'll be living in. I don't know who my husband will be, but...," she now rubbed her arm in bashfulness, "...he can't be far away. Anyway, gotta go. My dad and brothers are probably sleeping by now, so I can go to bed peacefully without them bugging me."

"O-okay, sure," stuttered Dipper, "Don't wake your dad. And we'll all be ready for this 'perfect world'"

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Dipster!"

And then, quite unexpectedly, she gave Dipper a quick peck on his left cheek as a sort of token of thanks for their interesting night together. As soon as she was back in her house, Dipper walked back to the Mystery Shack with his eyes wide open, his heart pounding speedily, his body temperature rising, his hands sweating and his cheeks very reddish pink from blush.

"Hallelujah!" he then said to himself aloud, happily, "Dryosaicha must have been right! Thank you, fate!"

* * *

In her bedroom, Wendy was just getting into her nightgown. Oddly, should could not stop thinking about her evening with Dipper, especially when she gave him a friendly kiss just now.

"_What the heck I am thinking about?_" She questioned to herself, "_Am I fantasizing about Dipper? But I'm too old for him, aren't I? My forest friends keep telling me that three years apart during the age of adolescence is no big deal. C-could they be right?_"

Once she turned off the lamp and got under the covers of her bed, she started to wonder about qualities Dipper had gained in recent times. _Hhhmm...Dipper sure has gotten a little more muscular, smart and cute recently._

* * *

Back at the Mystery Shack, Dipper was also lying in bed, the thoughts of Wendy being with him all night and kissing him on the cheek still swirling through his head.

"Did somebody get lucky with Wendy?" whispered Mabel mischievously from her own bed across the room.

"Wha-what makes you say that?" replied Dipper in both nervousness and tiredness.

"I can see something shiny on your cheek!" pointed out Mabel.

And his sister was right. The moonlight shown through the window and was sending a sparkly reflection off of Dipper's left cheek, the place where Wendy just kissed him. It sparkled because there was still a tiny bit of saliva there, which the boy had refused to wash off.

"Yes, I did," said Dipper, now turning to his side to face the wall. "We'll talk about this in the morning, Mabel."

"Okey dokey, Romeo!" joked Mabel, giggling.

* * *

However, not all was alright that night. Near the abandoned and destroyed church in the forest, a prison-orange clad Human was walking towards it. This person appeared to be short, almost kidlike with a hair net covering snow-white hair. It was Lil' Gideon. This must have been the fourth or fifth time he had broken out of jail (a previous time being when he recklessly and blindly unleashed the MagnaSpiders). Just ahead of him was a teenager with a stitched heart on his hoodie. He was busy spray-painting one of his infamous 'Muffin explosions' on it.

Gideon looked at him, saying "Robbie, I presume?"

Robbie finished his 'work' and looked at him. "So, you're finally out of jail, Lil' Gideon."

Gideon chuckled and replied. "Please, call me Gideon. The 'Lil' part was just for show."

"Just tell me why I was called over here," sighed Robbie, feeling both bored and tired.

"We both have bad reputations around here," answered Gideon, "and I've heard of something called the Cult of the Dark Master. It might take in sinister folks like us."

"You think we should join a bunch weirdoes who worship some Dark Master dude?" asked Robbie, a little confused as to why Gideon was doing this.

"Exactly!" replied Gideon, grinning evil-like, "And this building is one of their bases of operation."

"Whatever. You said that you'd call in a big monster Gargoyle thing to help us out," said Robbie, feeling impatient, "Why don't you call the Gargoyle already?"

Gideon was clearly getting annoyed at him. "I know that, I'm remembering how to summon one."

Just on cue, a Dragon-like Great Mountain Gargoyle landed 4 feet away from them. It was none other than Efferus, the one who tried to strip Wendy of her beating heart in order to reawaken the Dark Master and possibly replenish his species' numbers. Gideon was amazed by this Reptile, but Robbie backed up in fear.

"Oh, I did not know that the one who summoned me through a special holler was a wretched Human," growled Efferus, lowering his head down to Gideon's height and snorting at him. "I was just returning from successfully finding more of my people by the Pacific coast and then I find something like you magically calling me over..."

"Look, we're all allies here," assured Gideon, hoping that Efferus would not attack at random, "We all want some kind of power or respect, and we can get it from the Dark Master!"

"The Dark Master, you say?" responded Efferus with a raising brow, intrigued, "I am listening..."


	6. An Awkward Morning

The next morning, after a rainfall that came unexpectedly last night, the weather started to improve. The sun rose up over the now moist Oregon forestland. Many small Animals were becoming active since this was after a rainfall.

Since the Age of Redemption was slowly taking place, the lands all around were bursting with true native life. In addition, all Human-introduced species were now diminishing, becoming restricted to only their original home areas. This process was happening slowly, but surely. It would probably take years to come full circle, but the wait would be worth it.

However, at the same time, the Dark Master would soon be freed from imprisonment to reek havoc upon all of existence. Fortunately, good always triumphs over evil.

* * *

Dipper was now stirring from his sleep by the first rays of sunlight coming through the window. He then felt what seemed to be a finger poking the side of his nose, annoying him intentionally. Suspecting it to be his sister, Dipper opened his eyes and turned his head. It was indeed Mabel, still in her nightgown. She was holding a wooden pail in her other hand and making a big smile.

"Rise and shine, bro!" said Mabel in a singsong tone.

"What's going on?" groaned Dipper as he rose up from his pillow.

Mabel then tossed what was in the bucket at her brother. It was multicolored confetti. "Good morning to you, boy who got lucky with an attractive girl!"

"Mabel..." grumbled Dipper, wiping the confetti from his face, "...does your mischief have to be this early?"

"Sorry, Dipper, it's just so exciting!" answered Mabel, "You and Wendy are getting closer and closer! And just in time for the world to be redeemed! And here's a little motivation...Wendy just called and said she was thinking of coming here early today and having breakfast with us!"

The sound of this immediately took Dipper by surprise. He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and showering himself to look nice today. Once his clothes were on, he got ready to go downstairs.

"Hold on," said Mabel, grabbing Dipper's shoulder before he could go down the staircase. "You know, she might dump you. I mean she's dated a lot of other guys and has had lots of breakups that hurt her more than her ex-boyfriends."

"Why are you suddenly saying this?" asked Dipper a little confused.

"I just want you to be happy. We're family, and I care for you," answered Mabel with a face of reassurance. "Now go on and be cool with Wendy."

And with that, Mabel lightly kissed her brother on the back of his head for family affection.

"Yuck! Sister germs!" complained Dipper as he headed downstairs, Mabel chuckling from behind.

* * *

Once downstairs and in the kitchen, Dipper quickly cleaned the table with a washcloth to make it look spotless just for his crush. Mabel gathered utensils and giggled as she watched Dipper prepare everything and himself.

"Okay, n-now everything's set!" said Dipper with an exhausted exhale and wiping his sweating forehead. "Oh, and h-how do I look?"

"Like a pro," answered Mabel, pinching her brother's cheek to tease him. "Wendy will definitely find you irresistible!"

The sound of the door and its bell was heard suddenly and Dipper got excited and turned around. Into the kitchen came not Wendy, but Soos. "Morning, dudes!"

Dipper then got a little disappointed, went over to the table and sat in one of the chairs, waiting in vain.

"What's wrong with you, buddy?" asked Soos, concerned.

"This morning, something's supposed to happen to me and it hasn't come," mumbled Dipper, not too quietly but enough to be heard.

"He's waiting for Wendy," Mabel told Soos, "He found out from the Elkron that destiny and nature alike has affianced him and her."

"Woah, boy!" exclaimed Soos in wide-eyed amazement, turning his gaze back to Dipper with a big smile and a thumbs up, "Congrats on the future, pal!"

"Thanks," said Dipper with the hint of a smile, knowing that he had encouragement from one of his best friends.

The sound of the door opening happened again and this time Dipper assumed that it was just a customer being an early bird. He looked up only to be surprised, seeing Wendy coming in, arriving earlier than usual, just as she had told Mabel on the phone. Dipper immediately lifted up his cap and rubbed his hair to look nice. Mabel, wanting to help, scuttled over to him, got out a comb she was hiding in her pocket and quickly started grooming Dipper's thick hair, helping him look good for Wendy. Soos giggled at this.

"Hey, gang. What's happening?" asked Wendy. As she said this, Dipper stat still, twiddling his thumbs, trying to seem casual.

"You're here mighty early." said Soos.

As the four settled around the table, just simply talking about what was new and about this exciting prophecy, Wendy kept any recent personal matters to herself. For last night, she had dreamed that she was a few years older and was eyeing an older Dipper. She could not help but hug and kiss him. She had woken up to find herself kissing her own pillow. One of her brothers mentioned to her, as she left home for an early start at the Mystery Shack, that she had been mumbling Dipper's name all night long.

She looked at Dipper and blushed a little. This was not only because she felt like she was in an awkward position, but also because she saw that Dipper seemed to be physically maturing fast. She liked his good manners, his hair and his biceps whenever they flexed. What was coming over her? Was it a sign?

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned church, Efferus lay beside said old building, basking in sun, using wings almost like solar panels. He briefly glanced back at the building and pondered to himself. _Not exactly the kind of base of operations I am used to, but it does feel great to be doing something evil._

He had already rounded up a pack of ruthless Goblins to serve the cult and had told everyone, including the few Human members, that they would need a special formula to release the Dark Master from its imprisonment. It would involve the dried leaves of certain trees, the bone fragments of certain non-sentient Animals and lastly...the heart of a young female Human born with red hair.


	7. The Tour and the Trap

The wicked Goblin pack that had been summoned to the ritual for the Dark Master's return were spending their time foraging in the nearby undergrowth close to the building. These toad-like beings were ruthless by nature, but these particular individuals were unlike any other.

As this evil pack scampered around the undergrowth, not straying too far from the base, something similar to them but different in many ways was watching from a branch high above. It was Twigsnatcher, the mischievous Hobgoblin. Right now, though, he wasn't feeling like pranking anyone at the moment. He knew that these Goblins were bad news and he felt as though they were associated with something unspeakably evil.

"_I feel as worried as a mother Deer!_" he said to himself, "_Do I go spread the word? Maybe I'll start with...those five unique Humans? Yeah, sure, why not. Especially red-headed Wendy. Hehe!_

He was then scuttled away into the forest, seeking out Gravity Falls.

* * *

While Soos and Mabel tried to breakdance outside the Mystery Shack to entertain arriving tourists, and as Stan led the touring folks around the museum area of the Shack, Dipper was hanging out and chatting with Wendy in the giftshop. She had already phoned up the friends of her age group to come visit the shack for a possible tour and to get to know Dipper a little more, Wendy now calling him 'one cool young dude'.

"You sure they'll be interested in an attraction about world mysteries, like cryptids?" asked Dipper, wondering if these other teenagers would like the Mystery Shack's theme.

"I'm pretty sure that if they try, then they'll like it," answered Wendy with a smile, "Especially when you show them with that smart little head of yours." She then gave him a quick little, playful noggie as she finished.

"Gee, thanks, Wendy," said Dipper, blushing a little and rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you really think I'm smart?"

"Oh sure, Dip," said Wendy, nodding in reassurance, "You love a good mystery. And I like adventures, so I can help you out. But like I said, you're smart, fun, interesting, cute-"

Wendy immediately halted her speech right at that moment, lifting her fingers to her lips and blushing a little.

"What was that?" asked Dipper, trying to make sure what he had just heard come out of Wendy's mouth was real.

"N-nothing..." muttered Wendy, her eyes darting around in awkwardness. "_Why does it feel so hot in here or is it just me?_"

Just then, there was a knocking-tap at the window. _TAP TAP TAP_

Wendy and Dipper looked to the window, but saw nothing there.

"Who's there?" asked Dipper when he opened the front door and looked to where the window was, but still saw nothing.

"Don't you remember?" spoke a familiar voice, "It's me! Twigsnatcher!"

Nearby, Soos and Mabel stopped breakdancing and were also looking at the spot where there was a voice coming from seemingly nowhere.

Wendy stuck her head out the door too, and unlike Dipper, Mabel and Soos she actually saw Twigsnatcher standing there, talking and making gestures at Dipper with his long-fingered hands and Bat-like ears.

"Twigsnatcher, they can't see you when you're using glamour," said Wendy with a slightly annoyed face.

"Oh, right. My bad" And with that, Twigsnatcher revealed himself to Dipper, Soos and Mabel, no longer invisible with his fey ability called glamour.

"Wow, neat trick, twig-snatching dude," said Soos in awe.

"Were can I get concealing glamour stuff?" asked Mabel excitedly.

"Were you really just using that faerie trick called glamour, that hides you fey from most Human eyes?" Dipper asked, "How come only Wendy saw you though?"

"Because I'm born a redhead, remember?" said Wendy playfully to Dipper.

"Oh right, yeah."

"Well, at your age, Dipper and Mabel, you're probably more likely to see us hidden fey than adults." said Twigsnatcher, heading over to the two, "I just made myself extra hidden right then. Anyways, I cam to tell you all something really important. There's something abnormally evil going on round here."

"Can it wait until after the Mystery Shack is closed for the day?" asked Dipper. "We've got big crowds coming."

"Probably, I'll give you some time," answered Twigsnatcher, then turning around and racing over to a tall tree, climbing speedily up it and laid back on branch. "Sheesh, Humans are always busy with meaningless money. The only thing I'd pay for is a ticket to freedom."

Just at that moment, and as Mabel and Soos went back to breakdancing to entertain approaching customers, up the dirt road walked Wendy's age group friends, remembering the digital message that they had got from her. They were Thompson, Lee and Tambry.

"Hey, gang! Glad you could make it!" greeted Wendy enthusiastically.

"Uh, yeah, hi," added Dipper, shyly.

"S'up," said Tambry, putting her phone back in her pocket, "I think I'm actually looking forward to something in life other than the internet."

"This'll probably be a new cool thing," added Lee. He had come because he felt like doing something friendly and casual instead of doing reckless pranks with boys who were less friendly than him. Lee might have done jerkish things before, but he had proven to be less of a jerk than Nate and Robbie. Another reason he came was because he was having secret affections for Tambry since she recently broke up with Robbie.

"You know, this will definitely be fascinating for a change." added Thompson, letting loose his inner nerd.

"I'll be the assistant tour guide here," said Wendy, still smiling, "The main tour guide here is the awesome Dipper!"

"Yup, uuuhh...that's me!"

"Alright, this'll be neat." said Lee, giving Dipper a thumbs up.

"Okay, we can begin this learning experience," said Thompson, nodding in agreement.

"Fine by me," added Tambry, admiring Dipper's shy and clever personality and soon began thinking the same as Wendy always thought about him. _He is definitely cute._

* * *

Pretty soon, as Grunkle Stan gave the tour to the general public, Dipper and Wendy lead Lee, Thompson and Tambry on a sort of private tour around the museum area of the Shack, separate from the other tour. Mabel and Soos, followed not too far behind, waiting for any touching moments between Wendy and Dipper for them to admire.

Surprisingly, the interests and imaginations of Tambry, Lee and Thompson were being captured by all the mysterious displays, mostly of cryptid Animals.

"Here's the Beast of Bladenboro, from Bladenboro, North Carolina." said Dipper, directing to the illustration on the wall of a savage-looking, Lynx-like Creature with a longish tail. "A Creature responsible for a string of deaths amongst other North Carolina Animals in the winter of 1953-54. It was known to most commonly crush or decapitate its victims, which were mostly Dogs."

The speaking of this alleged Mammal made Thompson, Tambry and Lee to widen their eyes.

"And here is the Fiji Mermaid, from the South Pacific." said Dipper, next directing to the exhibit of the famous dead monkey sewn to a dead Bony Fish. "One of the most famous hoaxes of all. Several replicas and variations have been made and exhibited under similar names and pretexts, including this one. The original object was exhibited by P.T Barnum in Barnum's American Museum in New York in 1842 and then strangely disappeared. It's assumed that it was destroyed in one of Barnum's many fires that destroyed his collections. Of course it's not a real Merfolk and it's origin is actually uncertain."

As Dipper lectured on the different cryptid exhibitions they come across, Wendy kept admiring both the creatures and him. She loved his intellect and this made her get closer to him. Was her affection towards him getting stronger?

"Look at my brother go," said Mabel to Soos with pride as she and him watched the 'private tour' from a distance.

"I guess they do make a nice couple," admitted Soos. "You think...eventually...uh...they'll actually...go steady?"

"Totally!" agreed a smiling Mabel, giving Soos a high five, "And just in time for the Age of Redemption, adding more to a 'perfect world.' Plus, I'd love to have Wendy as a sister-in-law!"

"And you told me that Dryosaicha, that peacekeeper Elkron dudette, foresaw the two getting hooked up and then hitched?" continued Soos, still thinking on a few things, scratching his head, "And to them, three years apart is no big deal?"

"To nature, it's no big deal," answered Mabel, then she got dramatic for the fun of it, "The Elkron and other supernatural beings say that Human politics can be blind to the truth for most of the time. So technically, by the age of 12, a Human is in a sense mature."

"You don't say..." responded Soos, smiling from intrigue.

* * *

After the private tour had ended, Tambry, Lee and Thompson left with their interested roused and their imaginations captured. This was a definite first for teens of their kind.

"Bye! Come again soon, gang!" said Wendy happily as she waved them goodbye from the porch, the Pines twins and Soos nearby.

"She sure has changed a little bit," muttered Thompson, starting to shift in thought, "Maybe she's in love again. Anyway, that was such an amazing experience! Who knew that the world was filled with mysterious creatures. Are they real or imaginary?"

"I thought that the Bigfoot one was pretty awesome," added Lee, "All the creatures were amazing, but not as amazing as other things I know." He turned his gaze to Tambry as he finished his statement and blushed a little.

"It was definitely pretty cool," admitted Tambry, with a shrug and a smile, "And Wendy looked like she enjoyed it too, not to mention Dipper's speech. It's almost like she's got a crush on him."

"What else is new?" spoke a sudden voice with a New Yorker's accent from nowhere.

Caught completely off-guard, Thompson, Tambry and Lee looked to their lefts and up a nearby tree. What they saw high up on one of the branches was a strange and small creature the size of a sitting upright Jack Russell Terrier with Primate-like limbs and a Bat-like head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," said Twigsnatcher, giving himself a slap in the forehead, "Human teenagers are also likely to see us magical beings, like kids."

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Thompson asked Lee and Tambry, who both replied with a "Yup, is that a real Goblin?"

"I'm not a Goblin! I'm a Hobgoblin," lectured Twigsnatcher, still standing on the high treebranch, "Don't mind me, I'm just passing the time until daylight hours are over, then I can hunt in the night. Toodles!"

And Like that, he had vanished with glamour, making him "invisible". The three teenagers just walked on, feeling perplexed by what they just saw.

* * *

After the Mystery Shack closed for the day, it was already sunset, the setting sun glowing gold against an orange-red sky. Twigsnatcher, after napping for most of the day on the same branch of a tall tree, awoke and was feeling a bit more active since the night was approaching. He then put two of his fingers in his mouth and whistled, signaling to the Mystery Shack crew that the time to meet was now.

The twins, Grunkle Stan, Soos and Wendy came outside, understanding that Twigsnatcher was ready to speak with them about something.

"Okay, now listen up," said the Hobgoblin after he got onto the ground and out of the tree by leaping from lower branch to lower branch, "There's a nasty pack of Spitting Bog Goblins close by that are doing something malicious, even for their standards."

"What's going on with them?" asked Mabel.

"Those particular froglike fey are hanging out near an old, abandoned Human-made structure deep in the forest. And that construction feels pretty...evil!" The thought of this sent chills through Twigsnatcher's spine as he said it.

"Wait a minute...," interjected Dipper, recalling something, "You mean that old and abandoned church?"

"Most likely," answered Twigsnatcher, nodding, "I've heard that churches are supposed to be places of peace, not villainy!"

"I was afraid something like this might happen," spoke Stan in worry, "It's got to be that Cult of the Dark Master. Never thought that they'd use something like that old church for a base of operations."

"This is getting really freaky, dudes!" said Soos, starting to tremble in fear.

"Next I suppose they'll need something for alchemy!" said Wendy, finding this all difficult to realize.

"Dark Master, you say?" questioned Twigsnatcher, "I've heard of this character. Basically...he's more evil than anything else."

"We better get help somewhere we can trust," said Dipper to everyone.

"You might be too late for that!" thundered an echoing, not too faraway voice. It was all too familiar to the group, especially to Wendy. Over the trees flew the mighty, Dragon-like Great Mountain Gargoyle Efferus, seeking the "next ingredient."

"Not him again!" shouted Mabel in surprise.

"I'm back!" roared Efferus with an brief evil laugh, and then directing his attention to Wendy, "And you're mine!"

"I'm not afraid of you!" shouted Wendy in determination, putting up her fists, "My friends are here to protect me!"

All of a sudden, _SWOOP. _Efferus swooped down from the air, darted straight at the group, frightening them all into the bushes, but then grasped Wendy in his front claws before she could reach cover. She had just grasped hold of Dipper's hand, but the boy soon lost grip of her in an instant as Efferus carried Wendy away in the sky. The teenage girl screamed, her own fear now winning her over.

"WENDY!" cried Dipper, running out of the bushes, his eyes now beginning to shed some tears. "NO!"

"We've got to save her, again!" spoke Mabel, running over to her brother's side.

"So Efferus is back, and Wendy is needed for that key ingredient of his," said Soos, feeling very worried.

"Who will run the register-uh, I mean, oh no! What will her family think of me!" complained Stan.

"Hold on everyone!" said Twigsnatcher with his hand in a 'halt' gesture, "Sure, we've got someone important to save. I'm not disagreeing with you. Sure, I've kind of treated Wendy like garbage before, but that was because of my red problem. I'm over doing that stuff to her now. Anyways, we need to get help from higher beings than either of us!"

"Like the Elkron?" suggested the four Humans in unison.

"Good choice!" exclaimed Twigsnatcher, "Let's go find them, and save Wendy. We don't know what we're up against for that cult of evil!"

"There's no time to loose!" added Dipper heroically.


	8. The Vision and the Slave

After keeping her eyes shut and murmuring skittishly to herself for a short while, Wendy looked around to find herself sitting in a dark, abandoned room with aged wooden and stone walls. On the ceiling, largish crack was there, allowing the light of the sunset to shine down through.

"Where am I?" said Wendy, standing up and looking around her surroundings in worry.

"You are here for the same reason I captured you before," replied a very familiar voice from the cracked ceiling above.

"Efferus!" shouted Wendy, feeling both hate and fear towards the Gargoyle, "Where am I? What do you want? My heart again?"

"Indeed, you are correct," snickered Efferus's voice from the ceiling creviced crack, his eye was then seen peering through it, "You have been brought to a forsaken place of peace. And I am not alone on this project!"

Wendy saw a door and hoped that it would get her out of this room, but as she grabbed the knob, it would not budge. It apparently locked from the outside.

"Why keep me in here?" questioned Wendy, feeling a little confused at the moment.

"To prepare you for the ceremony...," responded Efferus mysteriously.

"Ceremony?" asked Wendy. But Efferus had already left.

That's when the door flung open, and in came a trio of Goblins, holding some fancy-looking pieces of metal and cloth. The sight of them caused Wendy to yelp in shock and she fell onto her bottom.

"We get you ready for tonight!" snickered one of the Goblins.

They then began to approach the already timid-feeling Human girl with this strange attire, ready to 'appropriately' dress her up. However, one Goblin, who wore a small satchel stolen from Humans, sat by, thinking about something that seemed to concern Wendy. Was this Goblin different than the rest?

* * *

Back with the Pines family, Twigsnatcher and Soos, they were racing down a hidden path of forest to find the Elkron in order to help them. Both Wendy had been captured and the time to fight the darkness was approaching closer.

"Come on, gang," encouraged Twigsnatcher, jumping over rocks and swinging on low-hanging branches as he rushed with the four, "The fate of the world is at stake!"

"Not mention Wendy's life!" added Mabel.

"Ooh! My spine!" shouted Stan, briefly slowing down when he felt a jolt of pain appearing temporarily in his backbone.

"Mr. Pines, are you-" began Soos.

"Don't say that I'm old, Soos!" snapped Stan in interruption.

"I am definitely going to testify my bond with Wendy!" said Dipper, very determined. "I hope that the Light will guide us through. A-And bless all of nature, too!"

That is when they spotted the same Elkron encampment from before straight ahead. As soon as they all reached it, they ran into Sylvouranis. Before he could ask what was going on, they insisted that he take them to see the chieftess. As he began to lead them to the lead hut of the village, they glanced to see two Elkron (a male and a female) examining something very odd: the male was holding the crazy Old Man McGucket by his overalls while he was sleeping.

"So where did you acquire this mentally odd Human?" asked the female, briefly sniffing the old man as he snored.

"I found him near the closest lake," answered the male, "He was sleeping under a Garry Oak with a glass bottle by his side. I have seen this individual before, always dancing around his community and chanting strange things. Perhaps we can help him in regaining his sanity and the memories that he has obviously lost."

Mostly ignoring this, Sylvouranis finally brought them back to the chieftess's hut (though it was Twigsnatcher's first time in there). The chieftess was carving a record on a stone tablet with small stone chisel when the group came in and she stopped to look at them. "So we meet again, but where is she who has hair of incandescent fire?"

"And why is there an obnoxious Hobgoblin in here?" asked Hylaeocervopus, who happened to be standing in the corner of the hut, guarding the chieftess. He glanced over to Sylvouranis for an answer, but the toolmaker Elkron just shrugged.

"Re-Relax, great Elkron," said Twigsnatcher nervously, "I-It's such an honor to be in the presence of things like you!"

"The reason why Wendy isn't here...," said Dipper, answering the chieftess's question, "...is because she's been kidnapped! By what we think is the Cult of Dark Master!"

"Can it be!?" gasped the chieftess, "Does that mean that the time for the Dark Master's return is coming closer? The prime component that is needed for the cult's formula to release the Dark Master is the heart of an adolescent Human female born with the ability to see the unseen with red hair."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Stan, "It's just us and a whole legion of who knows how many!"

"You will have to rescue your friend with the help of a very special beast," responded the chieftess, showing the hint of a smile, "A New World Unicorn."

"A Unicorn?" said Soos, feeling a little confused.

"A Unicorn?" responded Stan, not taking it seriously, "Are you serious?"

"A Unicorn?" questioned Dipper. "I thought they weren't real."

"UNICORNS!" squealed Mabel in happiness, "I'm finally going to meet a real live Unicorn!"

"Unicorns are no joke," said Twigsnatcher, feeling like he should join in on the conversation, "They can't be tamed. Not exactly how you'd treat a house pet."

"Indeed," responded chieftess, "This is a special Unicorn you shall be getting help from, but be warned, it can be dangerous for any mortal to approach one. It will only come to you if it senses you have a purity or innocence of spirit."

"That would definitely qualify with Mabel," said Dipper, feeling it to be that obvious.

"This is great!" yelped Mabel in joy, "It's also good because it'll help us save Wendy from death! But how?"

"Maybe Dryosaicha came assist you in negotiating with this Unicorn," said Sylvouranis, "She is a very good peacekeeper and negotiator."

"So be it," said the chieftess calmly, feeling a sense of righteous pride, "Acquire her assistance."

"Please, though, do be careful around her right now," said Hylaeocervopus, "She has been feeling different internally in recent events."

The group was unsure what Hylaeocervopus meant, but they would soon find out what he was referring to.

* * *

Once Dryosaicha was summoned by her brother Sylvouranis, she was more than willing to take the group to meet this special Unicorn. She was especially eager since this was a chance to observe what destiny had in store for Dipper and Wendy. She knew that this would be a testimony of love.

As Dryosaicha led the group down the forest trail, Twigsnatcher and Mabel gossiped about Unicorn mysteriousness, Soos pat his belly in amusement, Stan was getting a little sleepy and Dipper was wanting to ask the peacekeeper Elkron more things he wondered about.

"So you really do this is a good chance for me and Wendy to get closer?" the boy asked readily with a big smile.

"Indeed," replied Dryosaicha with a chuckle, "and the future in just a few years will be even more brighter."

Dipper then noticed what Hylaeocervopus had earlier mentioned, Dryosaicha sometimes held her had to her gut, as if something peculiar was inside her. The female Elkron noticed the boy looking at her gut and then spoke to him as if answering a question he did not ask. "You must be wondering what is going on inside by body at the moment."

"Well..." muttered Dipper, scratching the back of his head.

"Hylaeocervopus and I recently became lifelong mates. And now I am..."

"Pregnant?"

"Yes," admitted Dryosaicha, not feeling very shy to reveal this, "My first child. Sylvouranis will be an uncle soon. And this is not too different from what will happen in the future to come, Dipper, for you and Wendy. But I will not reveal so much detail."

Dipper was just speechless at the moment.

* * *

Just all little further on, the group came to hidden meadow. Here there stood, feeding on the foliage, swishing a long, almost Rat-like tail covered in silky fur, twitching Donkey-like ears was none other than a New World Unicorn. It was a male. Hid snout was shorter than a Horse's, yet he still had a mane like one. He had a pale white coat with a small amount of yellowish-gray spots on his back. His most interesting feature was that his hooves were not those of modern Equine, but those of an ancestral Equid: four hoof-like toes per foot.

"This is Baiusharan," whispered Dryosaicha to the group, "One of the wisest New World Unicorns alive today."

Everyone, including Twigsnatcher, were amazed at the sight of this magnificent beast. Mabel, especially was wide-eyed in delight. She wanted to squeal cutely in delight, but tried to keep her voice down to not startle Baiusharan.

"He can see the future better than most other beings on the continent, alongside my tribe's chieftess," continued the peacekeeper Elkron.

"I want to talk to him!" cheered Mabel, who foolishly ran into the meadow to meet the Unicorn.

"Wait! Mabel! No!" ranted Dipper, "You heard what was said! It's dangerous to approach a Unicorn!"

Mabel halted among the flowers to both heed the warning and to just admire this Unicorn's natural beauty. Ever since she was a kindergartener she had always wanted to see a live Unicorn. Now a preteenager, she was finally happy to see such a thing.

At that moment, Baiusharan stopped grazing and turned his head towards Mabel and looked at her. The group was still watching from the nearby underbrush and they, especially Twigsnatcher and Dryosaicha, were afraid that the Unicorn might turn territorial and harm Mabel to leave his turf. Instead, however, he slowly walked towards her with what could only be described as curiosity.

"She definitely has an innocent heart," commented Twigsnatcher, amazed by this.

"What else is new?" joked Stan.

"Go forward, brave Mabel," encouraged Soos, keeping his voice down at the same time.

Baiusharan was indeed sensing that Mabel Pines had a pure and innocent spirit. He then gently lowered his long, Narwhal tusk-like horn upon Mabel's head and closed his eyes.

"_It's like a dream come true!_" said Mabel in her head.

"_So you say?_" said a sudden, prominent-sounding voice in her mind. It had in fact come from Baiusharan. He was using the special Unicorn ability of telepathy through his horn to speak to Mabel.

"_Are we reading each other's minds?_" asked Mabel in her thoughts, excitedly.

"_I am using my telepathy upon you, little one._" responded Baiusharan in his telepathy, "_You have a good spirit, so Unicorns like I can cooperate with you properly. Now, I sense that an unspeakable evil is approaching this plane of existence. And you and your comrades, who I can feel are nearby, want guidance on both saving all just in time for the Age of Redemption and a friend of yours._"

And just then, Mabel saw images beemed into her head on how the event to come would play out. She saw them rescuing Wendy from the evil sacrifice, yet still saw the giant, evil-looking, black-colored fog-like being appearing (most likely the Dark Master). But the final vision she saw was truly amazing: the lost species to Human hands returning to existence.

"_This is what shall happen._" continued Baiusharan, "_The power you will need to defeat the evil is inside..._"

With that, the Unicorn lifted his horn off of Mabel's head, turned around and went back to eating the small Plants of the meadow. Mabel just simply turned back around to the rest of the group, and walked towards them in wide-eyed amazement.

"I'll tell you all what I saw. And...it's...awesome!"

* * *

Back at the aged, Dark Master Cult-operated building, Wendy was feeling very scared and uncomfortable. The Spitting Bog Goblins who 'dressed her up' were now at the door to her prison room, calling over with snarling grunts to any higher authority to inspect their work.

"I'm coming!" shouted the voice of Gideon, the rich boy coming down the hallway. He then arrived at the room to see what the Goblins had. "Now let me see our test subject, and what ya'll did to her...oh my!"

Gideon blushed at what he saw. Wendy stood there, looking worried and embarrassed, wearing a skimpy slave girl outfit.

"Well, this is kind of unexpected, miss," said Gideon awkwardly, sweating and scratching the back of his head. "Anywho, let's get going, we don't want to keep the Dark Master waiting for his release."

"_This can't be good at all,_" said Wendy to herself anxiously. "_Oh Dipper, where are you? You've always got my back, as does everyone else at the Shack. Save me!_"


	9. Shadows Come

After Mabel explained to the group the visions she had received from Baiusharan the Unicorn, they all knew that something had to be done.

"He also said the key to saving Wendy from that cult is to find what is truly inside," explained Mabel, telling of the strangest vision she got, "What do you think that means?"

"I think he meant to find what our hearts say," guessed Dipper.

"Of course," said Dryosaicha, pleasantly, "We must all follow the calling of our hearts. I followed mine, and now I am a successful peacekeeper of my tribe and I fell in love the warden of the MagnaSpiders himself, Hylaeocervopus."

"I think my heart led me to Melody, a real girl!" added Soos in happiness.

"I guess my heart tells me to care more about my family, friends and employees than cash alone," said Stan with a shrug.

"I think my heart calls for me to do lots of things," said Mabel, feeling quite confident now, "Like make new friends, befriend all my fellow Animals and find the right boy to call my boyfriend! Maybe I should encourage Pacifica to be more friendly."

"My heart tells me, I think, to not just be a prankster, but also to help others in need. To keep evil at bay." said Twigsnatcher, scratching his chin and twitching his Bat-like nose and ears in thought. "That sounds neat: Twigsnatcher the Mischief-making helper."

"My heart to tells me to find the right answers to life's mysteries, help others in physical and emotional need, and most importantly...," said Dipper, recalling all the right things he had done before, "...to keep true to my love for Wendy. She might even feel the same way about me soon."

"I think you all have to answers you seek to save Wendy from the cult," said Dryosaicha, now departing back to her village, "You need more than just random tools for weapons, you need the powers of your true will."

"I guess I'll go find where Wendy's being kept," said Twigsnatcher, giving a thumbs up to show reassurance. "I'll sniff her down."

And with that, the Hobgoblin scampered away in the light of the setting sun and the shadows cast by the trees, sniffing around, looking for Wendy's scent.

"Wait, I think I got her! Follow me!"

So the group followed Twigsnatcher into the woodland, hoping he'd find where these cultists and Wendy were soon.

* * *

The sun had now sunken and the moon had risen up, the sniffing Twigsnatcher eventually led the twins, Stan and Soos to the unexpected abandoned temple.

"I find it hard to believe that a place of peace is now being used for evil folk!" said Dipper, feeling disgusted by what was found.

"I second that, dude," commented Soos, feeling just as disgusted.

"They're here alright," said Twigsnatcher slowly, looking hard at the building, "and so is Wendy."

Just they all walked forward a couple of steps, out of the shadows ran a small group of unusually muscular Goblins, drooling and cocking their froglike heads and twitching their Pig-like ears.

"Looks like security's not what it seems," commented Stan, feeling cautious about the Goblins.

"Twigsnatcher, can you reason with them?" asked Mabel to Twigsnatcher.

"Like I could," responded Twigsnatcher sarcastically, "I'm a Hobgoblin, not a Goblin. Besides, they're malicious and I'm not!"

"Go away or be eaten...," snickered one of the muscular Goblins.

"I got this!" said Soos bravely. He ran straight towards the muscular guards, out of his pocket he pulled out an iron spoon (kept in his pocket from eating the yogurt he had for lunch) and pretended that it was a sword, swinging it around for show.

Surprisingly, the sight of the spoon's shiny iron reflecting in the moonlight, frightened the muscular Goblins and they ran away screeching in fear, back into the forest.

"Whoa, that was easy," said Soos in amazement, "Do they not like spoons?"

"It's the iron," said Twigsnatcher, stepping back a few steps from Soos's hand that held the spoon, looking very cautious of the tool. "Iron is harmful to magical creatures."

"It is?" commented Stan, "Sounds like an idea I can sell at the Shack to superstitious people!"

"Now where do we go to find Wendy?" asked Mabel, looking around for signs of her older female friend's whereabouts.

"Up there!" pointed Dipper, seeing that there was movement on top of the building.

With that, the team rushed to a convenient outdoor stairway that led to the roof and hurried up it (Stan getting a small stitch on the way up, though.) Once up there, the saw something truly bizarre. In the center of the roof stood two tall, 3-meter-high, copper poles. Both poles had two long ropes latched around each of them. All four of ropes themselves were tied around the ankles and wrists of none other than a suspended Wendy between the two poles, wearing a rather skimpy slave girl outfit.

"Now this is twisted," said Stan staring strangely.

"She's dressed to kill!" added Mabel, surprised.

"Never thought this would happen," muttered Soos, sweating a little.

"Yep, it's ridiculous," commented Twigsnatcher, looking at the captured girl as strangely as Stan was.

Dipper blushed and sweated from seeing Wendy like this, but with his heart pounding he felt determined to save Wendy once again. "Hey!" he shouted.

Wendy turned her head to see her friends, boss and Hobgoblin acquaintance right there. Her heart leaped with joy that she was going to be rescued, especially since Dipper was there. "Everyone! Mr. Pines! Soos! Mabel! Twigsnatcher! Dipper! Thank goodness you're here! Save me!"

Suddenly, up from behind the building flew the malevolent Giant Mountain Gargoyle himself, Efferus. Carrying more Goblins on his back, as well as Robbie and Gideon. "It will be to late to save her now, heroes!" bellowed Efferus, giving an evil laugh after that statement and landing on the roof and letting the Goblins and two Humans board off his back.

"Wendy?" questioned Robbie in surprise to see his ex-girlfriend tied up and dressed like a slave. "You're going to be the sacrifice? Efferus did say it would be a redhead, but I didn't think you'd be chosen."

"It's weird seeing you part of all this, Robbie," said Wendy, feeling insecure and annoyed, "Looks like another reason I'll say as to why I broke up with you!"

"Former lovers?" commented Efferus, "That would certainly explain the hostility I sense between them."

"And what are the losers doing here, saving you?" snapped Robbie when he saw the Pineses, Twignstacher (unfamiliar to Robbie) and Soos standing close by.

"Wait until I...," began Dipper, lifting his sleeves so he could fight Robbie.

"Well, well, well," snickered Gideon, "If it isn't the rest of the Mystery Shack team. Aided by a Hobgoblin, huh? You can't stop us now, we're closer to ripping out the girl's heart and reawakening the Dark Master with it! And how are going to stop us? With love or something gross like that?"

"I sort of expected you'd be here to," said Mabel, regretting ever thinking Gideon could be a possible boyfriend for her.

"We'll stop you with what's in our souls," said Dipper.

The sound of this touched Wendy, making her feel happy. But cult just laughed at this, thinking it to be weak and pathetic.

"Excuse me, master?" asked the satchel-wearing Goblin anxiously to Efferus, "I've been trying to tell you that I already-"

"Not another word!" rudely interrupted Efferus, "Our enemies here have no physical weapons. And we must now remove our test subject's heart, add it to the formula and unleash the Dark Master!"

All the Pineses, Soos and Twigsnatcher could do was huddled together, close their eyes and hope really hard. For they were doing what they had heard from the Unicorn and the Elkron, that the true powers of hope, compassion and love were greater than anything one could ever imagine. Wendy wanted to have hope too and close her eyes for a sign as Efferus lumbered over to her, reached out his front claws and slowly lifted them towards Wendy's chest, ready to rip out her beating heart.

"WAIT!" shouted the satchel-wearing Goblin impatiently, halting the great flying beast from starting the removal.

"WHAT!" responded Efferus loudly, turning his gaze right against the face of the satchel-carrying Goblin.

"I have been trying to tell you all day, milord!" spoke the now frustrated Goblin, "I dug up from a cemetery grave the old heart of a deceased red-haired Human. That's how the tombstone described the individual." The Goblin then reached into his satchel and pulled out the dried-out, old dead heart that he had grave-robbed.

Wendy and the rest of the gang opened their eyes, very surprised to hear this.

"So this is what you have been trying to tell me all day," commented Efferus, holding the dead heart in his claws, "Well, good job. I suppose we don't need Wendy anymore."

Two Goblins rushed over to Wendy and undid the ropes tied to her wrists and ankles. Once she was free, she rushed over to the group and there was a big group hug, which included Stan and Twigsnatcher.

"We used our will power thanks to the helpful tips of a Unicorn!" said Mabel, "I'll show you this Unicorn later, Wendy. Oh yeah, and we found your regular clothes down near the building's base."

Dipper felt absolutely at bliss was Wendy hugged him after the big group hug. She liked his enthusiasm in using hope instead of fighting, and he liked that she was wanting him to save her the most (and the fact that she was hugging him in a somewhat revealing slave girl outfit).

However, they all realized that this was technically not a mission complete. The dug-up dead heart was then dropped into the cauldron that was on the roof, mixing in with the other ingredients. This was the moment that had been dreaded for ages: the moment where the Dark Master would rise up and attempt to claim the universe. As the cauldron now shook and bubbled fiercely, an unnatural green glow emitted from it. This forced Dipper, Wendy, Mabel, Soos, Stan and Twigsnatcher to run back down the outdoor stairway off the roof of the building. They could only look up in despair at what they now saw.

The sky was now an eerie red color with a few dark clouds suddenly appearing. Something truly evil was going on. Right next to the building, a swirling vortex and dark purple smoke appeared on the ground. Just as the summoning was assured, out of the vortex emerged an extremely tall and shaded entity, looking as if it was made of smog. It had clawed hands and spike-like projections sticking out of its back and three more on its head, all fog-like in appearance.

"Well, we're doomed," said Soos, feeling speechless with fear as everyone else did.

"I HAVE RETURNED!" thundered the great being in a deep, booming voice, "I, THE DARK MASTER, SHALL RULE THIS PLANE. STARTING WITH THIS PLANET. ANGER, HATE, ARROGANCE AND FEAR SHALL OVERCOME ALL MORTALS. AND NATURE ITSELF WILL BE RUINED FOREVER!"

"Now you don't get more serious than that," muttered Twigsnatcher in horror.

On the building's roof, the evil Goblin pack and Efferus all bowed to the Dark Master, grateful to be in its presence. Robbie and Gideon though, could not comprehend the insanity of what they were seeing. They both stumbled and fell back in dead fear.

All of a sudden, a shiny sparkle of light appeared next to the Dark Master, and out of it came the one-eyed, insane, triangular demon himself Bill Cipher.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Bill like a gentlemen, "Are you seriously the Dark Master? _The _Dark Master of legends?"

"That I am," responded the Dark Master, turning its gaze to the puny, floating triangle.

"I'm a huge fan of you!" yelped Bill in joy, "I've got so much merchandise based on you! I've got Dark Master-themed cups, drinking straws, coasters, bibs, sandals, rugs, plush toys-"

"SUCH MATERIAL MEANS NOTHING TO ME!" bellowed the Dark Master, actually frightening Bill.

"Of course it d-doesn't," stammered Bill nervously. "I'm just here to tell you that I want to serve you for as long as you wish!"

"Then for beginners...," responded the Dark Master, raising its hand to Bill's position, "You will add to my collection of power buildups. Your evil is only a mere grain of dust compared to mine."

And with that the Dark Master sucked the willing Bill right into its hand. "I'll be ready when you summon me back, DM!" wailed Bill.

After that, the Dark Master vanished without a trace, it was now on its way to spread negativity in the emotions of the world.

What were our heroes to do? The ultimate evil had been finally awoken and was about to ravage everything. How would the Age of Redemption officially commence this way? Perhaps they would need unexpected help from those formerly self-centered.

* * *

The Mystery Shack crew made it back to the Shack (with Twigsnatcher asking to temporarily live in their kitchen to hide from the spreading darkness) and were all now feeling very insecure. It seemed that all hope was lost. Dipper and Mabel sat on the sofa, both looking scared. They didn't dare to turn the TV on because they might see news reports of the frightening activity going around.

"This is way over our heads, dudes," said Soos, coming over to see them and sitting in the nearby recliner.

"Tell me about it," said Wendy, also coming into the living room and sitting next to Dipper on the sofa, finished with getting back into her normal attire.

"Say, Wendy?" asked Dipper skittishly.

"Yeah, Dipper?" replied Wendy, feeling the same way.

"I just want to let you know that whatever happens to us in this whole Armageddon-like deal to stop it, we'll be getting through it together." He the placed his hand on her hand and smiled.

"How sweet!" responded Wendy with a big smile, beginning to slide her fingers between his.

Mabel leaned over to Soos and whispered. "There's something to repel the Dark Master!" The two then giggled.

That is when a knock came to the door. Mabel cautiously answered it and was relieved to see that it was just Hylaeocervopus, looking very unsettled.

"We know, the Dark Master is unleashed," said Mabel awkwardly, "But Wendy didn't die, she was spared and the cult used some other heart to use and...you know..."

"So it happened that way..." muttered Hylaeocervopus, "Listen, Mabel we need the Light to protect us. Only the Light can stop the Dark Master!"

"And how do we call for it?" asked Wendy coming over to Mabel's side.

"Is it willpower?" asked Dipper, also coming over to see what was going on.

"That and faith," replied Hylaeocervopus, making fists in determination of good triumphing over evil. "You need to make your mortal enemies become your allies."

"How do you make the people you hate become your friends?" questioned Stan, passing by.

"Yeah, how, dude?" asked an approaching Soos.

Hylaeocervopus then, momentarily not saying anything, reached behind his back and pulled something from the strap he was wearing at the moment. "Here is an example."

The 'something' turned out to be a someone. It was none other than Pacifica Northwest, quivering from fear and eyes darting around in desperation. She then saw that she had been brought to the Mystery Shack and calmed down a little.

"H-hold, Mr. Deer-man," said Pacifica, feeling a bit critical and her inner bratty, rich self surfacing. "First, you steal all my exotic pets, including the peacocks and peahens, and somehow send them all back to their original homelands. Now the sky turns red, everyone in town starts acting weird and jerk-like and you suddenly kidnap me and take me here. Why?"

"Because," said Hylaeocervopus slowly, bringing his face to Pacifica's and looking her straight in the eyes, being very serious in the matter. "You have many lessons of life to learn. One of which is being friendly with a different social class than your own."

"Well...," said Pacifica, after Hylaeocervopus lowered her to the ground, "The Pines did once help me rid my mansion of ghosts. I guess I'm in their debt."

This made Dipper and Mabel surprised and Wendy and Soos thought it was nice of her to say that.

"Now that..." said Hylaeocervopus, "...is a very noble thing to say."

"Okay, Pacifica, let's tell you the basics on what's going on here," began Mabel.

"Hold on," said Pacifica with a smile, "I just want to thank you all again for that case. Thank you especially, Dipper..."

"You're welcome," replied Dipper, sensing that Pacific was about to flirt with him and backing up to be at Wendy's side for 'protection', "But you're not my type. Sorry."

Now giving Dipper a confused by also unhappy glare (wondering if he would actually become partnered with someone older than him), Pacific redirected her attention back to Mabel. "Alright, what's scoop?"


	10. MacGyver and Spirit

Under the unnaturally dark red sky, the Dark Master was invisible to the populace of Gravity Falls and the nearby towns, spreading nightmares and negative feelings into the minds of any innocent soul. If not stopped, its influence would go unchecked and spread across the rest of world and after that the universe.

At that same moment, Bill Cipher himself in some sort of void of utter nothingness. It was dark all around and he felt invisible walls everywhere,

"Where am I, exactly, milord?" asked Bill, looking around and lifting his hat to scratch the tip of his pointed head.

"You are within my inner fabric of power," replied the intimidating voice the Dark Master, "You are in a special pocket in the fabric and will be used only for minor resource purposes."

"Of course," replied Bill, feeling happy to serve the Dark Master, "I'd do anything for you, even if it means being stuck in a crammed little pocket inside your immense power!"

* * *

When the black, shadowed, hoary clouds of despair can seem to darken everything, know that you can always look for that one ray of hope that comes shining through the darkness. Sometimes, even someone you used to dislike can become your ally/friend to help you through such dark times. In this case, Pacifica is that ally.

Hylaeocervopus stood there in front of the Mystery Shack, tapping his hoof in thoughtful frustration, mumbling aloud words in the archaic Elkron language. He had just instructed Pacifica (who had just been told about the Dark Master and its plan to ravage all of existence) to stand back a few meters away near the forest as he did this. The MS crew just stood by the Shack's door, waiting for something to happen.

"Mr. Hylaeocervyoopuss?" asked Mabel, "What are you doing?"

"Please do not interrupt," spoke Hylaeocervopus quickly, "I am in deep thought, seeking answers from the spirits of my ancestors and from the Light itself!"

"Should we make, like, a distraction to get the Dark Master's attention so, you know, the Light can bring back those lost Animals?" hypothesized Soos, hoping to sound ingenious in front of an Elkron. "Like maybe...a big contraption like something a highly-educated scientist would make, dude?"

Hylaeocervopus froze and turned to face the group, his eyes opened wide from his interest roused. "That just might work! The Dark Master cannot resist mocking those who have created overdone creations, both in ideas and in physical inventions."

The group looked at Soos in amazement that he would come up with something to impress someone as cynical as Hylaeocervopus.

"But remember," continued Hylaeocervopus, "The true key to success is what the Baiusharan the Unicorn said, inside..."

* * *

Not long after, the group (with both Twigsnatcher and Pacifica's unexpected help) had constructed out of old metal parts, collected out of a nearby dumpster, a tall, catapult-like construct. Old Man McGucket had been found nearby by Soos and placed on the launching point of the catapult itself, whistling mindlessly to himself. This was something that made the Elkron raise an eyebrow in a subtly impressed manner.

"Is this a sort of catapult?" he asked.

"I guess so," said Dipper, unsurely.

"You are not literally going to harm this McGucket fellow with that?" questioned Hylaeocervopus.

"Nah, we'll probably just let him bounce on it all he wants," said Stan, hands on his hips. "_And maybe this whole experience will bring his memories back._"

As Stan said this, McGucket somewhat started to feel his sanity returning, but very slowly.

"It's like you said, sir," said Mabel, hoping Hylaeocervopus would like this plan, "The Dark Master can't resist taunting mortals and insult what they've done. It'll distract him so much that he won't have time to focus on good stopping him."

"That entity will definitely insult this contraption," said Wendy, patting her hand on the catapult itself, "It's great bait."

"It's both ugly and brilliant!" added Soos.

Twigsnatcher whispered to Pacifica. "Talk about defeating evil! This'll be great!"

"Oh, sure, yeah," replied Pacifica, feeling a little nervous about a Bat-like creature speaking to her.

Then, out of the forest, emerged a familiar figure. It was the one good MagnaSpider, who Mabel had named Creepers. The sight of him surprised both Twigsnatcher and Pacifica. "Do not mind me," said the large black Spider, feeling friendly, "I am just here to see what Hylaeocervopus has in store for all of you."

"Wait, that reminded me. Thank you, Creepers, I almost forgot," spoke Hylaeocervopus in surprise, kneeling down and scooping up small handfuls of soil in both his hands and lifted them up towards the dark red sky, "The voices from the unseen have instructed me to grant you all the willpower of nature itself to aid in fending off the Dark Master. All five of you shall receive it."

"What about me?" questioned Pacifica like brat.

"You still have much to learn, one called Pacifica," responded Hylaeocervopus with some disinterest in what she said.

At that moment, out from the sky came a large streak of light that flew straight at Hylaeocervopus, swirled around the soil clumps he held as he muttered something to it, and then divided into five separate colorful beams that bolted straight into the hearts of Dipper, Mabel, Soos, Wendy and Stan, all startled from this.

"You have all been gifted...temporarily," spoke Hylaeocervopus, getting back up on his hooves and dropping the two clumps of soil back onto the ground. "You now have the power to resist the Dark Master's temptations thanks to a blessing from the Light. You have been temporarily bestowed the spirits of five of the countless returning organisms of this world." He then pointed to them individually (from Dipper, to Soos, to Mabel, to Wendy to Stan) as he explained which spirit was which. "Dodo, _Raphus cucullatus_. American Mastodon, _Mammut americanum_. Thylacine, _Thylacinus cynocephalus_. Common Saber-Toothed Cat, _Smilodon fatalis_. Saddle-Backed Mauritius Giant Tortoise, _Cylindraspis inepta_."

"A-are we now like superheroes?" said Soos, looking around from his astonishment on what just happened.

"This is amazing!" cheered Mabel, "I represent a Marsupial!"

"Oh sure", grumbled Stan, "I just had to be the Tortoise."

"Sweet, I'm representing a Saber-Toothed Cat!" said Wendy with big interest and looking at her heart (where the power had entered her and the others).

"That is pretty neat," said Dipper bashfully to her.

"Focus now!" announced Hylaeocervopus, "The Dark Master will assault us any moment now, so be prepared."


	11. Natural Salvation and Affection

As madness and dark intentions were spreading throughout the area like a plague under the dreary and unnaturally red sky, the Dark Master, currently invisible to the mortal eye, sensed something promising nearby.

It then revealed itself with all its darkness in front of the Mystery Shack, accompanied by lesser demonic minions that resembled smaller slender versions of their overlord, and staring down at the now terrified group. It observed the catapult-like contraption with a daydreaming Old Man McGucket laying atop and could not resist in making the 'lesser ones' feel miserable in order to feed its ever-growing power.

"You Humans call yourselves superior over your fellow Animals with your machinery. But I have never seen anything as pathetic as this! Placing an aged individual atop this abominable contraption. Your own arrogance blinds you! I thrive on that!" mocked the Dark Master, feeling and enjoying the deeply hidden pain inside the mortals.

Everyone was just speechless from fear, being in the presence of the menacing, towering ruler of all evil. Hylaecervopus, Twigsnatcher and Creepers had only backed away into the forest for cover while while the Humans just stay there in the open, frozen with uncertainty and fear.

"I feel attracted to you in particular...yellow-haired preadolescent female known as Pacifica Northwest," spoke the Dark Master sinisterly, shifting its intimidating gaze to a now terrified Pacifica, freaked out by those glowing red eyes. "Your hidden arrogant pride and selfishness, it is all so delicious!"

"St-stay away from me!" stuttered Pacifica in great fright, stumbling backwards and then falling onto her bottom.

"Your fear of I, it is also alluring," snickered the Dark Master, feeling stronger from Pacifica's fear. "Where is your precious Light now?"

"Well...we got, uh, Animal powers now!" interjected Stan, slightly misinterpreting the spiritual abilities.

"Maybe so," spoke the Dark Master, slowly and ominously, "But it shall be futile to stop me with just special powers! No longer can the forces of good hold me. I have obviously escaped from the belly of my evil realm of pure blackness. I have cracked wide my shadowed tomb. My unworldly powers have been magnified by the negative tension between the different nations and races of humanity. The terrible and unnatural things you have done to yourselves and the world have revitalized my wicked sorcery!"

"Is talking all you demonic things do?" asked Wendy, now feeling strong enough from her bestowed power to resist and defy the present evil influence.

Infuriated by this comment, the Dark Master slammed its fist against the ground, causing the catapult to accidently launch McGucket a far distance away in a comical way (somehow, though, deep within his seemingly empty mind, his memories of his past and who he was were returning).

Just as the Dark Master and its demonic servants started to grow stronger and more powerful from the hidden fear and anger that they were sensing within the mortals, Hylaeocervopus stuck his head out of the nearby undergrowth and shouted. "Quickly! Use the spirits to weaken the Dark Master! And use your own positive emotions to aid the Light in completion of the prophecy!"

Right after this command was given, the MS crew found it within themselves to use what Baiusharan the Unicorn had said: what comes from your own heart. Out of their chests shot the great beams of power, frightening the lesser demon servants of the Dark Master into vanishing back into their realm of evil. "Such waves of power will not simply stop me," snarled the Dark Master, stubbornly refusing to withdraw.

All of a sudden, something appeared that changed the wicked entity's mind. From behind it, the sky shone down a massive beam of heavenly light. With its appearance, the five spirits warped back into it. This was the Light itself, discouraging and weakening the now twitching Dark Master as it shined brightly.

"Talk about UV rays!" commented Mabel, shielding her eyes with her arm from brightness.

"NOT THE FORCES OF GOOD! THE LIGHT'S POWER, IT BURNS!" roared the Dark Master in agony.

In response to this, the mortals felt the urge to help the Light in its battle against the Dark Master: Stan took out some of the dollar bills in his wallet and slowly gave them to Soos (feeling not so selfish this time by giving Soos a raise in his paycheck), Mabel hugged everyone around her in willing happiness and kindness, Dipper and Wendy looked at each other with emotional eyes and hugged each other, and even Pacifica felt deep down like she should no longer mocking anyone of the lower class.

All this positive activity, including the power of love, tormented the Dark Master immensely. A dark, swirling vortex appeared beneath it (leading back to its realm of darkness). The Dark Master was now sucked back into its imprisonment. Bill Cipher suddenly appeared popping out of the DM's body, confused as to all this positive activity. He then soon found the Dark Master clutching his legs and dragging him down with it into the evil realm. "How am I expected to get out of heeeeere!" cried Bill as was officially pulled into the dark plane with his great overlord.

Once the vortex portal was sealed away, everyone looked to see Hylaeocervopus step out in the rays of holly light, close his eyes, turned his head to face the sky and began to speak something that was neither English nor Elkron. It was some other archaic language that the English-speaking Humans could only somewhat understand:

"Ut omnium hominum manibus terrae perdita vel major vel minor in maiori ratione repetita casu. Psidium Humana inducta species cum inde amoveatur , Canis lupus dingo Australasian excepta continent. Ut overhunting cessent, colligi caecorum superbia mercator ubique. Lux caelestis aequavit produceret quamdiu erunt homines aequi vivere in concordia cum aliis institutis competere docere . Hoc ardebit usque ad diem hominum praesentium perveniendum sui naturalem deuitat. Et uide dividuntur, dolor et gaudium et voluptas vetus novum finen. Aliquo orbe. Fiat!"

* * *

The rays from the righteous Light were now fading slightly, revealing something truly extraordinary. The group squinted their eyes as the light adjusted to present an amazing sight. Out of the heavenly shine came a massive group of Animals, some walking, some swimming in the nearby river, and some flying. At first they were hard to make out, but as the creatures got closer all was revealed, leaving the team wide-eyed and jaws hanging open in true surprise and fascination. They were all the local wildlife, thought to be lost to unnatural causes done by mankind, now returning to existence for another chance.

In this group Pacific Northwest Animals were things like Sabertooth Salmon, Harlan's Ground Sloths, Woodburn Teratorns &amp; American Mastodons.

At the same moment, from within the Shack, the radio was announcing some worldwide special news. "_This just in. All over the planet, people are seeing so many extinct Animals, Plants and other things alive again. They said they all have been coming from some sort of heavenly light. Oh yeah, and all invasive species from Human hands, including feral domestic Animals, are miraculously disappearing from their non-native lands as we speak. Our leading scientists and naturalists cannot explain any of this at all. But I guess it just comes to show you, folks, that life is full of mysteries and surprises. Oh yeah, and poaching is surprisingly now being strictly illegal globally now._"

* * *

The prophecy had now been completed, the Age of Redemption had officially come forth, and the majority of humanity was now feeling the beauty, the power and the wonder of life.

About a day after this heavenly event, the Pines twins were sitting in a meadow with Soos and Wendy, gossiping and telling jokes, feeling unusually happy from the righteous affects of this new perfect world that they now lived in. The flowers around them blossomed while receiving sunlight. Pollinating Insects flew from flower to flower in proper pollination. Voles, Squirrels and small Birds scampered/flew around the four young Humans with grace. They had felt the urge to just hang around outdoors from this newly redeemed way of life, ignoring the distractions of any advanced Human technology at the moment.

"I haven't felt this joyous since I first learned how to drive!" said Soos, feeling the burning effects of happiness burning within.

"It's like a dream! Is it?" said Mabel. She pinched herself to see if she really was dreaming, but she felt the pain of the pinch. "Well, I'm not dreaming. I'm awake!"

"It sure is nice to live in a harmonized world," commented Wendy, feeling her inner wild-side embracing the feel of the day.

"Yeah. It sure is fascinating, probably with new mysteries to solve in the world," added Dipper with a smile.

"Y-you know, Dip...," mumbled Wendy, suddenly acting all bashful as she scooted towards him on the grass, "I've been thinking lately. These voices in my head, and my non-Human friends, have been telling me something r-really important recently."

"Oh boy, here it comes!" whispered Mabel to Soos in excitement, expecting something really happy to happen between her brother and the girl of his dreams.

"We'd better give them some space," whispered Soos with wink. And with that, Mabel and Soos backed away near the tree line to watch an 'enchanted moment' unfold.

"Wha-what's been on your mind lately?" asked Dipper shyly.

"I-I've been feeling a sort of c-c-connection between us," replied Wendy shyly, feeling her heartbeat increasing and her cheeks blushing. She then thought to herself, "_Sorry, Dipper. I-I don't think I can resist you anymore._"

"A c-connection?" responded Dipper, also feeling an increased heartbeat and blushing cheeks coming onto him.

As this awkward-feeling conversation was going on, Soos and Mabel noticed something come out of the undergrowth next to them. They recognized it as one of Wendy's old friends from when she was briefly raised by Sasquatches: a porcupine. This female Common Porcupine immediately saw Wendy and Dipper looking at each other eye to eye and knew that Wendy needed a little extra help in receiving a 'mate'. The Rodent crept stealthily through the grass and approached Wendy from behind. She turned around to face away from the two and then, feeling mischievous, erected her sharp quills and thus startling Wendy, sending the girl falling over face first onto Dipper, who fell on his back.

Soos and Mabel widened their eyes in surprise and delight at what the result was. Dipper and Wendy had their eyes briefly shut, but when they opened them they found their faces very close to each other. Wendy was laying on her gut against Dipper's gut as he lay there on his back. They blushed from being this close to each other with their noses actually touching. They blushed even more when they saw that their lips had fallen into contact with each other. They were kissing...lip to lip.

They were now suddenly having flashbacks to all the times they had been together. Not only when their first summer vacation here started, but also something amazing. Dipper was now suddenly remembering that his parents brought him and Mabel briefly to Gravity Falls to visit Grunkle Stan back he the two of them were 2 years old:

_While he and Mabel were meeting their granduncle for the first time, two-year-old Dipper met five-year-old Wendy and Tambry visiting the Mystery Shack and the two girls immediately had found Dipper adorable. Wendy politely asked Dipper's mother if she could hug him, which she got access to and happily gave him some affection, resulting in Dipper taking a liking to her._

Back in the present, Dipper and Wendy were now starting to see each other in a different light...

It was just as the Elkron and the non-sentient Animals had said, the meaningless politics of humanity were for most of the time like a wall pointlessly built on the path of life. However, Wendy and Dipper had found a way to get over the wall and see past it, realizing officially that they weren't really too far apart from each other for love. On top of all that, they really understood each other. Dipper had always been there for Wendy, even when she was dating other guys. Now...their bond was stronger than ever.

* * *

As the porcupine scampered away, giggling, Stan suddenly showed up, squeezing through some of the dense trees, looking for his grandniece, grandnephew and two young employees. "Okay, kids. Your break in this happy meadow is just about over. It's almost time to head back to the Shack and..."

The old man just stood dead in his tracks from what he saw that he thought to be unbelievable. His grandnephew was lying on his back with his cashier laying atop of him, face to face, eye to eye, and lips to lips.

"Am I dreaming?" Stan asked in whisper to Soos and Mabel, very unsure about what to make of what he was seeing.

"Well, Mr. Pines, if it is...," responded Soos, feeling a bit comical, "...then we're all sharing the same dream."

"What you see, Grunkle Stan, is love seen past the politics!" added Mabel happily.

Dipper and Wendy were now, since they now saw past the confusing politics, were actually now enjoying each other's embrace. They saw that love can conquer just about anything, tougher than diamonds, stronger than steel.

"_I think I've always loved him_," thought Wendy, "_I guess nature was right all along!_"

"_Have I died and ended up in Heaven?_" thought Dipper, "_She must be serious!_"

"Yep, I think that's the unimaginable power of love," said a familiar New Yorker voice from above Mabel, Stan and Soos. The three looked up to see Twigsnatcher sitting on a tree branch close to Soos's height, looking a bit sleepy. "Eh, don't mind me *_yawn_* since I'm mostly nocturnal, it's time for me to nap. Oh yeah, and I should soon probably be congratulating Wendy and Dipper on a job well done, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, they're really into it!" replied Mabel with a chuckle.

"But you know," continued the Hobgoblin, "Even though the world's ecology has been redeemed and sporthunting is diminishing, your journey is not yet over. Who knows what tomorrow will have in store."

He spoke the truth, for even though an unspeakable evil had been imprisoned and the world's correct natural order had been restored, our heroes' personal journeys through life were not yet over.

The End

(The story will continue with "Rescuing on the Frontier")


End file.
